Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKL DENIES CHARGE ? Co'/eroM Blease Say: fle Was M Rade to Yoaag Lad7 at ?eltoa SAYS THE EDITOR LIED Editor Willis Com -s Back With Af fidavits Substax elating What He Published Abo a: the Matter, and Intimates that ! he Governor and Not the Editor did the Lying. There is now a row on between the Editor of the Jelton Times, -who is Hon. J, Archie Willis, a. member of the Legislatu e from Laurens county, and Cove nor Blesse. The trouble was start ad by an article, wihich appeared In the Times on Fri day morning, A igust 4, charging that Governor BJeise had been rude to Miss ary J. R >gers, ticket agent of the Southern railway at Belton, while buying a I icket to Columbia from Belton. T ae following is an extract from the rticle published in The Times: Article fron The Times.. The Blue RIdgj railway's train comes into Beltca in the afternoon at 5:25, just 10 minutes before the train coming froi i Columbia gets In to the station h -re. At 5:30 the Anderson trolley car comes in. Both the Blue Ridge railways tialn and the Anderson trc .leys bring a great er or smaller nu aber of people who want to buy thei r tickets and board 1 the train from Columbia going to wards Greenville, and when the num ber is unusually arge, as it was Sat j urday afternoon Miss Rogers, the ticket agent had difficulty in selling tickets to all w xo 'apply for them. The train going to Columbia from Greenville igets ere at 6:20 in the afternoon, and p issengers who come over on the Blue Ridge have 55 min utes in wihich to buy their tickets. "Saturday af ernoon when| the Blue Ridge trai:. pulled in at 5:25 and the trolley cir followed at 5:30, somethng like a lundred people, men and women rus* ed into the station to get tickets fo: points up the road. There were num >ers of ladies stand ing around awf iting their turn to get a ticket for 3ome point north of Belton. A tal , black-haired man walked up to ?he window, handed Miss Rogers, th < acoomodating tick et agent, two nileage books that were nearly ust 1 up and asked for a ticket to Colu nbia. There was not enough mileagf fin the two books so he asked he? to tear the mileage out of both hex ks, subtract it from the number of miles to Columbia and he would > ay the difference in cash. Miss Roi.ers very kindly ask ed him if he wk uldn't wait until she had sold the tickets for those ladies and gentlemen who were going to catch the north bound train. She ex plained to him ohat he had until 6: '20 to get his ti ket. "Instead of ,'iving place to those who ought cei ialnly to have been given place at ;he window, the man straigthened hinself, and in a most Insulting mann r informed Miss Rog ers that she'm ist not know who she was talking to. He further inform ed her that 'I am Cole Blease, the governor of Sc ith Carolina; I've got a right to bu; a ticket any time I call for it, an.. you've got to sell it to me.' He toe k occasion to tell her that if he did l't have to, he would never had rid< en on 'her old South ern road.' He also Informed Miss Rogers that fc 3 was going to 'write her up' to he? Superintendent. (Mr. James G. Harris, of Belton, one of Govern ir Blease's friends and supporters, w ote and asked him if the article wi s a true statement of the case, and he governor replied in c most posith e manner that the ar ticle was not true. Here is what Governor Blej se wrote Mr. Harris in reply: Blease Denies Charge. Aug. 5, 1911. "Mr. James ( . Harris, Belton, S. C. "Dear sir: Your letter of the 4th just received In reply I beg to state that on my ' ??ay home on Saturday, July 29, I -walked up to the ticket office windo' ? at Belton, laid down two mileage jook covers, with some strips left, 1) it not enough to bring me through o Columbia. I did not know at wh t time either train ar rived at Belt >n, but was of the opin ion that I nade close connection. When I presented the milegae books I asked the young lady for a ticket tc Columbia. She replied, 'I have not time to wai on you now.' I said, 'Well, I wan . to go to Columbia and 1 want a ti ket.' She said, 'I have not got tim ! to compute this mil eage and n ake the calculation.' I smiled and said, 'Very well. I will tell you who I am and you will please remember. 1 am Cole L. Blease.' (I did not say governor of South Caro lina' or mer:ion the fact that I was governor'. I told her who I was be-j cause it wai my intention to get on the train v ithout a ticket, present the mileag? and state why I did not have a ' icket. and if the conduc tor declinec to accept the mileage, I was goinf tc sue the railroad for damages, ar i I wanted the young la dy as a wit less, to remefnber that I had applied to her for a ticket, pre senting th< mileage and that she had refusei it. When I told ber who I was, I said, 'I will report this matter to j our superintendent.' She then took i iv mileage, quickly made the calcula ions, told me that there was 70 cen s due, which I paid very promptly. She handed me back the ticket with the two vacant slips and said, 'thank you.' I said, 'I am Yery much obliged to you; you may keep the two old covers, as you may wish to send them in.' She said, 'No, you might need / em to show the con ductor wh/ *^asks for your tick et.' I replie o>right, and picked them up and away. "I showed no"% ></-tesy whatev er to the young t y^J was ex ercising my right ab*o. & <tnger on the road and told her f$ ^f^as, as I have stated, for the pot* ^ have stated. I showed no discou ?f[but treated her the same that 'i would have if every relative of hers In the world ihad been present. There were two young men sitting behind her In the office at the time and an old Confederate veteran standing by me, with badge on; The conversation did not even attract their attention, which shows that there was nothing whatever about the matter to have caused anyone to write a lie about it, such as has been written by the dirty sourrilous little editor of the Belton Times. I do not know who1 he is, have never seen him, but from this article I am satisfied that he is only another pimp of the newspaper combination that is continuously ly ing about me. "I thank you for your letter and for this opportunity of explaining the matter. Very respectfully, Cole L. Blease, Governor." The Editor Hits Backs. Editor Willis; when shown the ar ticle published in the Anderson In telligencer, which included Gov. Blease's letter to (his friend, Qlr. Har ris, he proceeded to get the proofs that the article published In The Times was true in every respect. He secured the sworn affidavits of peo ple who witnessed the conduc. of the governor that his paper's article was absolutely correct and wrote Gov. Blease the following letter enclos ing the affidavits: Belton, S. C. Aug. S, 1911. "Hon. Cole L. Blease, Governor of South Carolina, Columbia, S C. "Dear sir: I lhave just read copy of your letter to James G. Harris, published in this morning's Ander son Intelligencer, in which you ac cuse the editor of the Belton Times with having lied an the published ac count of your ungentlemaaly con duct in the railway station here on Saturday afternoon, July 29. As to the remaining contents of your let ter, you have called so many edi tors in this state 'dirty, scurrilous little editors that it must appear to you the joke has grown rather stale. "The facts in the article referred to were published precisely as stated by the young lady of whom you bought your ticket, and I atn inclos ing you herewith her sworn affi davit to the effect that tiho article was true In every respect. I am go ing to the further trouble to accom modate your excellency, and am in closing you also the sworn affidavit of James M. Alexander, the well known superintendent of fee Pelzer mills, who witnessed the incident, that the incident happened exactly as reported dn the Belton Times. So with this evidence in your hands, it must appear very plain to you that you must go further than" accusing the editor of The Times with having lied, If you wint to prove yourself innocent of the charge which the young lady has lodged against you. You must do that which no gentle man "having, the high sense of honor which you claim to have would do, and must accuse the young, iady with 'having perjured herseif. At the same time, my dear Bir, you must prove the sworn statement of the gentleman who witnessed it, and who has made sworn affidavit that the article published in the Belton Times was a true account of wha;. happened to be a lie also. "And now, my dear sir, out of re spect for the governship o" my State, a meml>er of whose general assembly I bave the honor to be, I refrain from telling you what I know you are, and put It up to your constit uency to judge as to wnetner or not you are the one who has lied about the matter. Very respectfully, J. Archie Wlilis, Publisher of the Belton Times." The Affidavits Sent. Inclosed with the letter Mr. Wil lis included the affidavit of Miss Rogers, the ticket agen'., and also the affidavit of James M. Alexander, superintendent of the Pelzer mills. The following is Mr. Alexander's af fidavit, which he sent to Editor Wil lis: The controversy between Gov. Cole Blease and Miss Rogers as printed in the Belton Times, is cor rect. I was present trying to get a ticket for the train goine to Green ville and heard the conversation. Would not have known the man if he had not said, 'I am Cole Blease, governor of South Carolina.' etc. (Signed* "Jas. M. Alexander," "Sworn to before me this 8th day of August, 1911. (Seal). J. H. iMerritt, "Notary Puiblic South Carolina." The following affidavit was given Editor Willis by .Miss Mary J Rogers the young lady to whom it was. charged the governor was rude to: To whom it may conee-n: This is to certify that the account of Gov. BJease's conduct in the Sou thern railway waiting room at Bel ton Saturday afternoon, July 29, whioh the Belton Times published Friday morning, Aug. 4. was a true account of what happened. (Signed) Miss Mary J. Rogers. Sworn to and subscribed before me the 8th day of August, 1911. (Seal) John A. Horton, Notary public South Carolina. ORANGE CLASH OF WORDS SHARP PASSAGE BETWEEN" UN DERWOOD AND JAMES. Both Withdraw Remarks and Then Peace Once More Settle Down in the Democratic Camp. Democratic harmony in the house was momentarily ruffled Wednes day, when O. W. Underwood, Dem ocratic leader, and Ollle James, who have been close friends, became In volved In a heated exchange of words J In tne discussion of a bill providing for the improvement of Black War rior River, in Mr. Underwood's dis trict Eoth. men withdrew remarks, a<nd the incident was amicably clos ed. The bill provided for the building of a dam to improve navigation on the river. The construction of the dam would create' a large amount of water power, the rights to which, ?under the bill, would be leased for 50 yearn to the Birmingham Light and Power Company. Mr James and others opposed this provision, as serting the term of the lease was too long. Mr. Underwood, declaring that he cared nothing about the water power feature of the bill, but was much interested in the navigation feature, said that if the bill were held up work on the Black Warrior would go ahe&d as originally contemplated at an expense of nearly $250,000 more than the proposed dam would cost. Mr. James as?ed If it was fair to argue that unless the house passeci the bill, giving a half century lease to a coporation without limitation of its charges to consumers, certain work would be done costing the gov? ernment $200,000 than if the right were given away. "My friend from Kentucky," re plied iMt. Underwood, "has just come out of a successful campaign for senator where a play to the igallery has purchased votes, J>ut I will say to him that to claim water power is a monopoly, to answer me with the proposition that I am pleading for a monopoly, is not fair tc me." Mr. James responded that he would have expected "a statement more considerate of the people of Kentucky among whom the gentle men (Mr. Underwood) was born." Then Mr. Underwood, explaining ?that he spoke nnder provocation, withdrew his remarks, Mr. James withdrew his, too. The house ad journed without acting on the bill. Witness: J. O. Meredith. Editor Willis after seeing the let ter of the governor published above stated that since matters had taken the turn they thad, he would produce the evidence, w.hich he has done dn the affidavits publirhed above, to prove that The Belton Times' state ment was correct in every respect, and that then the people of the State might judge as to whether Gov. Blease had stuck to the truth In de nying the. correctness of the article. The Belton Times has in its pos session other affidavits to show that the igovernor did treat the young la dy at the ticket window discourte ously and further affidavits stating that the article published in The Times was a true account of what happened. What They Say. A dispatch from Anderson to The State says J. H. iM'erritt, superinten dent of the Pelzer Manufacturing company's mills, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, at Pelzer, said over the telephone Thursday night that he received the letter revoking his commission on Thursday afternoon. Mr. Merritt said thiat he had nothing whatever to do with the incident at Belton, that he was not in Belton at the time. His connec tion was merely taking the affidavit of J. M. Alexander, who was present. Mr. Merritt said Mr. Alexander came to him voluntarily and asked that he swear him and accept the affidavit and that he complied with 1 the wish and that the affidavit was forwarded to the Belton Times. J. M1. Alexander, who is superin tendent of mill No. 4, of the same company at Pelzer, said over the phone Wednesday 'light that he was present at the time Gov. Blease pur chased his ticket from the lady at Belton; that he voluntarily went to Mr. Merritt and asked him to swear him and take the oath and that Mr. Merritt complied. As to any state ment further he had nothing to say other than that he would bow to the will of the governor. He has not received his letter of dismissal yet. Another Hale New Cotton. The first bale of new cotton for Lee county, and the second bale of this season's crop to be harvested in South Carolina , was sold in Bish opville Wednesday by W. W. Wheel er of Lee county. The cotton was! graded as strict middling, and was purchased by O'Donnell & Co., cot ton buyers. The bale weighed 490 pounds and brought 1- 1-2 cents. A Big Whale Sighted. A Portsmouth, N. H., dispatch says passengers on the steamer Mun natauket from the Isels of Shoals Wednesday saw directly in the steamer's course and only a few feet away a whale floundering in the ewell and baving the appearance of a large piece of wreckage in the fog. The whale was not less than thirty five feet long. > 1 B?RG, S. C, SATURDAY, A' BLEASE WRATH? The Governor Revokes tbe Commissions of Three Notaries SLAPS AT THE EDITORS -.-< The Removals Made Because One of the Notaries Made An Affidavit Against the Governor and the Oth er Two Attested Affidavits Made by Others. Publication of affidavits corrob orating the charges made by the Bel ton Times of rudeness on the part of Governor Blease toward a young lady, employed as ticket agent in the Southern railway station at Belton, was followed on Thursday afternoon by the summery revocation by Gov. Blease of Notaries Publics J. Ml. Al exander, J. H. Merritt and J. A. Horton, all of Belton. /, The crime for which Mr. Alexan der was removed was making affi davit that the article in the Belton Times concerning the Governor was true, and the crime for which Merritt and Horton were punish ed by decapitation was attesting af fidavits in the same case. To each of the three notaries Governor Blease sent the following letter: "Some time since you were com missioned a notary public by me, under the constitution and the laws (during the pleasure of the gover nor.) Your commission is hereby revoked, and any further act per formed by you as such offflcer will be Illegal and in violation of the law. A copy of this letter has been filed with the secretary of state, and al so with, the clerk of court, who has been requested to cancel your com mission." The Columbia Record says Gov ernor Blease was asked what moved him to revoke these commissions. He said he had not intended to volun teer any statement, but in anticipa tion of such an inquiry had dictated to his stenographer an expression on the subject, and had the copies be fore him. He said he wished it un derstood that hiB language applied only to the "editors of the newspa pers that have taken part in this business." The statement was as follows: "I have no further comment to make on i he Belton matter, at this time. What I stated in my letter to Mr. Harris is absolutely correct. I was perfectly sober; feeling good; had just left a large crowd of my friends, was on my way home in the best of spirits and remember very distinctly what took place. Any man or woman who lives in South Carolina that does not know that I am governor Is indeed in the lowest mire of ignorance; hence, when 1 say to anyone that I am 'Cole L. Blease,' it is absolutely useless to add that I am governor of South Caroina and I did not say so on that occa sion, if my enemies do swear to it. "I have cancelled the commission of the three notaries publicB taking part in this dirty transaction and some other people will hear from it later. Everyone who nas known me from my childhood up, both men and women, will certify to the fact that 1 have at all times ano on all occa sions been polite and courteous to everybordy, and particularly so to ladies; and this is the first time in all my life that I have ever been charged or accused of showing the slightest disregard to any lady, and I am satisfied that my friends do not believe that I was aisrespectful on this occasion. "My enemies, of course, will say they believe it, even if they don't, and the liars who are editing the newspapers of South Carolina will endeavor to use it to injure me, be cause they will go any depth in the filthy bog holes of vituperation and abuse to do me harm. However, the people know me and I am gover nor, the pimps and shunks, who use the pens for newspapers to the con trary, notwithstanding, and I'll be rtelected in spite of their lies. Watch me!" The Columbia Record says Mr. Al exander is understood to be super intendent of one of the Pelzer Mills at Pelzer. He was commissioned on the recommendation of Senator Geo. W. SuOHvan, of Wiliamston. Mr. Merritt was commissioned on the J. Belton Watson. Mr. Horton who is mayor of Belton and president of a bank there, was commissioned on the recommendation of Representa tives J. W. Ashley and J. W. Jack son. The owner of the Belton Times is Representative J. Archie Willis of Laurens. .Made Happy at Last. Columbus Spradley, of Aiken county, S. C, the young man who was held up and beat Wednesday last, and Miss Gussie May Holstein, the young woman whom he swore to marry in spite of the protestation of father, brother and cousin, were married at 6 o'clock Tuesday after noon at Rev. A. D. Echols, pastor of Asbury '.Methodist church. Whs Painfully Hurt. Guerdan Tarbox, while making a flight with his aeroplane Wednesday morning, came down in the marsh on Richmond plantation and was painfully injured about the face by the guide wires as the machine struck the mud and turned turtle. ?GUST 12, ftlf DR6E0 TO HOLD COTTON ADDRESS IS ISSUED BY SUMTER COUNTY UNION. Argument by Committee Giving Rea sons for Sending Appeal to People of South Carolina. In an address issued to the farm ers of South Carolina a committee of the Sumter County Farmers' un ion urges the holding of cotton un til a higher price is obtained. The address is prepared by a committee consisting of E. W. Dabb?, president of the State Farmers' union, and J. M. Brogden and S. N. Welsh. It is as follows: "To the farmers and all the busi ness interests that are affected by the price of cotton: The Sumter County Farmers' union at its last meeting unanimous ly directed us as a committee to call your attention to the serious condi tion that confronts us in the outlook for low prices for this crop of cot ton. Thirty or forty days ago cot ton sold in Sumter for 15 1-2 cents (spot). Today a holder who would not. then sell was glad to get 12 1-2 cents. These are actual sales. Wihat has brought about such a slump in this short time after cotton had held steady for nine or Hen months at 14 to 15 cents? They say because there is a prospect of over 14,000,000 bales. It is not more because the world, judging by the ipast, thinks it can stampede the farmers and the merchants, and buy below 10 cents before Christmas. The men who are predicting such prices are working with might and main to bring about 10-cents cotton by telinglL.Jddl Ixzflflff ,.:;? ( ,by telling, their farmer friends that the crop is the largest on record. 'You ought to sell as fast as you can, for cotton is bound to go low er.' Apparently not knowing that this is the very -ay to bring about a lower level of prices. "Now we have no quarrel with the Northern and foreign spinner who wants low-priced cotton. It is only a part of his business to get the raw material at the lowest pos sible price and it is also part of his business to sell his finished pro duct at the highest possible price. But how any Southern man, even owners of mill stocks, can wish to see low prices for cotton, or can in any way give aid and encourage ment to the enemy by joining in the hue and cry that 'prices are bound to go lower,' is past our comprehen sion. For every business man and every cotton mill in the South is In evitably bound up in the general prosperity of this section. If Southern mills would seek out new markets for the manufactured goods, and learn from the successes of foreign mills to cater to the de mands of the world's trade in the fabrics the world wants, put up In the| kind of packages the| world wants, they could join hands with all the business interests of the South and fix and maintain the highest pos siblte price for cotton and cotton goods. "That the mills will not do this is abundantly proven by the history of recent years when our own mills kept out of the market while the farmer was falling over himself to sell his cotton, and later paid more for their stocks than the foreigners, with freight and other charges add ed. We may expect the same thing to happen this fall. Hence we leave ?the Southern spinners out of the count. "But we do call on every mer chant and every fertilizer manufac turer and every banker and every railroad man to join with the Farm ers' uuion in urging every farmer to hold back his cotton until the world is willing to (pay a living price for it. Such a course can hurt no one, and it will help every one; the merchant by giving him cash customers for his goods, the fertilizer plants by increased use of their .goods, the banks by larger de posits on more imported goods than our people will have the money to buy, and every profession, and call ing by the increase in the circula ting medium brought about by the j larger flow of foreign gold in all the arteries of commerce. "There can be no question that this will be the result of higher prices for cotton. If it were not true, from whence conies the present prosperity of the South? It is 15 cents cotton that has done it. As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, just so surely will there be stagnation and want, distress1 and! bitterness, in thous ands of homes in the South, and they j will not all be farmers' homes, if I we let this crop of cotton sell for I 1 0 cents or less. "With the world's stocks of cotton i almost depleted, with the automobile j tire industry alone taking hundreds of thousands of bales of cotton an nually, increased consumption on every side, this crop can be market ed at 14 or 15 cents per pound just as easily as last % ear's crop was, if we but hold out for it. This is not merely our opinion, fellow farmers, but it is the opinion of as shrewd business men as the ones who tell you that cotton will go lower. Be sides 'there's many a slip 'twix the and the lip,' and the drought is not yet broken over large areas where cotton is burned up; in other sec tions the young crop can not make a half yield under most favorable con ditions. And all of it has to run the gauntlet of excessive rains, if WILL BE IN THE RACE GOVERNOR BLEASE WILL RUN FOR A SECOND TERM. Says He Will Ask Reflection On His Record.?Criticises State Col leges and Attacks Lyon. The State correspondent says the picnic at Easterville Wednesday, under the auspices of the Literary club, drew 1,500 people from Fair field, Chester and Union counties and many from Columbia. The feature of the day was the speech of Gov. Blease, who was the invited guest of the occasion. Gov. Blease criti cised the work of the State colleges, advocated lynching for one crime, and took occasion to announce that he will run on his record for another term as governor. W. C. Clayton presided over the meeting and Introduced the govern or. The governor complimented the community on the opening of the I club. Touching on education, the I speaker mentioned the higher State institutions of learning, saying their I support was becoming a burden, ow ing to what he called extravagant appropriations by the legislature, and stated that they were favored at the expense of the rural schools. He compared them to the denomina tional colleges. He deolred that the denominational colleges were fur nishings the judges and the men in high office in the State. He said he was not opposed to the State colleges, but was in favor of more money being given to the rural schools. He stated that he had not gone through college himself, but that after he had fought the world, the besh and the devil for 20 years the people had honored him with the j office of governor. He cited this as an example to show that it was not necessary for a boy to have a college j education to succeed. Touching on his pardon record, j the governor said he had no apolo l gles to make for the ciemency he had exercised. Referring to the paroling of Otis Hilton, the white man from Chester, who was sent to the penitentiary for life for killing a negro; he said that he bad affida vits from men whose word he did not doubt concerning the facts in the caue, and that both from these and from the testimony he did not hesi tate to parole Hilton, and he would always do the same where a white man is involved with a negro. He declared his business was to take care of the white ntople; that he was not an enemy to the negro, ,but that the negro must stay in his place. Turning to lynching, he said he favored lynching a negro when ever he committed the nameless crime against a white woman, and that if this was standing for lynch law he stood for it. He denounied the hosiery mill in the State penitentiary, calling it the "tuberculosis factory." He said his enemies were saying he was opposed to "Yankees" because the promoters of the hosiery mill were Northern men. He said he was not opposed to Yankees, but was trying to rid the State of this "tuberculosis factory," and relieve the poor wretches from I their position. The governor referr ed to J. Fr?ser Lyon, attorney gen eral, saying that if Lyon wasn't wanting to be governor himself he would have stood with Blease in his fight against the hosiery mill. ;"Let him run for governor himself and I will give him political tuber culosis," said Gov. Blease. After this Gov Blease announced that he would be a candidate for re-election to the office of governor; that he ex pected to run on his record, and that if he could not be elected on this he would be satisfied. Gov. Mease spoke more than an hour, [ and he reiterated many of his prev iously stated sentiments. j they ever start, and of the many insect pests, and climatic changes that make a late crop so uncertain. "In concjusion your committee would urge, with all the insistence of calm and deliberate judgment, that every one who can do so hold his cotton off the market either in his own strength, or with the assist ance of his creditors and the banks. Pick it dry, gin it dry, put the bales away under shelter dry. And if you must borrow money on it, do not borrow more than 2." or 30 dollars a bale and for not less than six months. Thirty-day cotton ' loans and loans close up to the market value are worse than seling out right. We call on all the unions in ! the cotton belt to join us in this j light. Shut down on cotton now and ! for the next 60 days and the fight is ; won. Paper contracts do not run i mills. "Yours for Southern prosperity, "E W. Dabbs, "J. M. Brogdon, "8. N. Welsh, "Committee." Wagon Driver Killed. Sam Anderson, a negro log driver for the Betts Lumber Company, was killed in the Black River Swamp, Sumter County, where he was haul ing logs on Monday, by being hit by the tongue of the log wagon while he was loading, a loz on it. Huge Peach Crop. The peach crop in Connecticut will be so large this year that a special train will be added to the Hartford-New York schedule dur ing the harvesting season to ship the dally output. TWO CENTS PER COPY, R??l??DtD By His Conscience and Confesses lo Po lice That He Htld Up Man. ??- i SAYS HE CANNOT SLEEP He Told the Officers That He Had Robbed the Manager of a Broad way Restaurant at the Point of a Pistol and He Wanted to Be Lock ed Up. , j "I want to see the man in change here/' said a well dressed young man as he approached Lieut. Main lands desk In police headquarters at 11 o'clock in New York Wednesday night. "I 'happen to be in charge of part of Police Headquarters," replied Manian. "I'll attend to anything you want." "Well," the man answered, "I want to be arrested for a robbery I committed three years ago. I have never known a good night's sleep since, and my conscience has driven me to the police. I should be sent to prison for what I did and am wil ling to go." Manian thought the man was craz} and looked him over carefully. Then he motioned to a poHceman to come forward. "Wbat robbery did you commit?" asked the lieutenant. "I went into a Broadway restaur ant three years age?I think it was In September, 1908. I held up the manager at the point of a revolver and rifled the cash drawer of $30. Is not that a prison offense?" "It certainly is," Manian replied. "Now, tell us wiho you are." The man stid that he is Freder ick J. Hall, twenty-eight years old, married, and that he lived at No. 160 West Thirty-sixth street. "I am willing'to take my medicine in any sort of dose, my conscience i? killing me," he continued. "In prison I can learn a trade and when I come out I will be able to earn a living for myself and wife." "Have you no trade now?" Mani an asked. "No; but I'm a clerk and a good ? one," was the quick answer. I could earn a fine living were it not for this conscience." He refused to tell where he was employed and Manian began to look up the records of 1908. He found that on the night of Sept. 7, that year, a young man had entered a restaurant at No. 2245 Broadway, and after holding up Antonio Cas sara, the manager, at the point of a revolver, bad taken $30 from the cash drawer. , "Is that the trick you pulled off?" Manian asked. "I suppose it is," Hall replied. Hall was locked up charged with robbery. STEEL COMMITTEE BACKS DOWN Decides Not to Force George. W. Perkins to Answer. George W. Perkins, director of the United States Steel Corporation, and former partner in J. Pierpont Morgan & Co., was net ordered be fore the bar of the House by the House Committee of inquiry into the affairs of the Steel Corporation. Neither will he ba After a heated executive session of the committee Wednesday, in which was discussed the refusal, on advice of counsel, on Mr. Perkin's part to answer questions regarding contributions of corporations to campaign funds, the committee reached an understanding whereby all threats were waived. The committee, in executive ses sion, was induced by Representative Littleton to reconsider the action of Tuesday, in which the Chair was sustained in ordering that the wit ness answer questions as to his per sonal campaign contributions. STEAMER (JOES TO BOTTOM. Nearly One Hundred People fJoes Down With Her. The French steamer Emir found ered Wednesday five miles east of Gibraltar and ninety-three persons were drowned. The ?hip sailed at three o'clock Wednesday morning for Morroco. An hour later in a dense fog she collided with the British steamship Silverton bound from Newport, Eng land for Taranto, Italy. The Si her ton's crew was rescued and twenty saved of the Emir's crew and passengers. The Silverton later put in hero with her starboard bow stove in and her fore peak full of water. The Emir was floated in a few minutes after the collision. Sixty nine passengers and twenty-four of the srew went down with the ship. Fifteen passengers and twelve of the crow were saved. AH passengers were French, i he Emir was a ves sel of 1,291 tons owned by Com pagnie de Navigation Mixte at Mar seilles. Cut Down His Corn. Vandals, supposed to be moonshin ers, went into the field of a farmer in the Dark Corner of Greenville county a few nights ago and cut down every stalk of his corn. Raiders bad suspected the farmer of informing of them.